The Gowans sae gay; Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, Child 4- Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight; Version A
[There are two common titles, 'The Gowans sae gay,' (Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, I, 22) and 'Aye as the Gowans grow gay' (Motherwell's MS., p. 563). Below I've included the song notes from Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland.]
Child: A has but thirteen two-line stanzas. An elf-knight, by blowing his horn, inspires Lady Isabel with love-longing. He appears on her first breathing a wish for him, and induces her to ride with him to the greenwood. [foot-note] The Elfin Knight' begins very much like A, but perhaps has borrowed its opening stanzas from this ballad.
Arrived at the wood, he bids her alight, for she is come to the place where she is to die. He had slain seven kings' daughters there, and she should be the eighth. She persuades him to sit down, with his head on her knee, lulls him asleep with a charm, binds him with his own sword-belt, and stabs him with his own dagger, saying, If seven kings' daughters you have slain, lie here a husband to them all.
'The Gowans sae gay'- Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland. Child 4- Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight; Version A
1 Fair lady Isabel sits in her bower sewing,
Aye as the gowans grow gay
There she heard an elf-knight blawing his horn.
The first morning in May
2 'If I had yon horn that I hear blawing,
Aye as the gowans grow gay
And yon elf-knight to sleep in my bosom.'
The first morning in May
3 This maiden had scarcely these words spoken,
Aye as the gowans grow gay
Till in at her window the elf-knight has luppen.
The first morning in May
4 'It's a very strange matter, fair maiden,' said he,
Aye as the gowans grow gay
'I canna blaw my horn but ye call on me.
The first morning in May
5 'But will ye go to yon greenwood side?
Aye as the gowans grow gay
If ye canna gang, I will cause you to ride.'
The first morning in May
6 He leapt on a horse, and she on another,
Aye as the gowans grow gay
And they rode on to the greenwood together.
The first morning in May
7 'Light down, light down, lady Isabel,' said he,
Aye as the gowans grow gay
We are come to the place where ye are to die.
The first morning in May
8 'Hae mercy, hae mercy, kind sir, on me,
Aye as the gowans grow gay
Till ance my dear father and mother I see.'
The first morning in May
9 'Seven king's-daughters here hae I slain,
Aye as the gowans grow gay
And ye shall be the eight o them.'
The first morning in May
10 'O sit down a while, lay your head on my knee,
Aye as the gowans grow gay
That we may hae some rest before that I die.'
The first morning in May
11 She stroakd him sae fast, the nearer he did creep,
Aye as the gowans grow gay
Wi a sma charm she lulld him fast asleep.
The first morning in May
12 Wi his ain sword-belt sae fast as she ban him,
Aye as the gowans grow gay
Wi his ain dag-durk sae sair as she dang him.
The first morning in May
13 'If seven king's-daughters here ye hae slain,
Aye as the gowans grow gay
Lye ye here, a husband to them a'.'
The first morning in May
THE GOWANS SAE GAY- Page 22, Song Notes: Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland---------------
A ballad somewhat similar in fancy, was published by Allan Ramsay in his Tea Table Miscellany; but it differs widely in romantic fiction and narrative from the present, whose hero is an Elfin-knight, with whom the heroine falls in love on hearing the sound of his horn. Great deeds are said to be done on the first morning of May, such as gathering dew before the sun arise; which is an infallible cosmetic for the ladies. The two following verses, on the virtue of May-dew, are from the ballad alluded to.
O lady fair, what do you here?
There gowans are gay.
Gathering the dew, what need ye spier?
The first morning of May.
The dew, quoth I, what can that mean?
There gowans are gay.
Quoth she, to wash my mistress clean,
The first morning of May.
The lady stems to have been a match for the fairy; for, by her syren song, like Judith with Holoferness, she lulled him asleep in her lap, and afterwards cut off his head with his own weapon.